Title
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROPOSED 3RD AVENUE AND 30TH AVENUE MIDBLOCK PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS AND STATUS OF OTHER PEDESTRIAN AND CROSSING IMPROVEMENTS
COUNCIL INITIATIVE ADDRESSED:
Improve transportation systems
Address quality of place issues
CITY ATTORNEY REVIEW:N/A
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
At the August 24th, 2017 City Council meeting, the City Council discussed installing midblock crosswalks with warning devices at two locations: 3rd Avenue north of Hudson near the two Canterbury facilities, and 30th Avenue in front of Columbia Valley Gardens Elementary School (CVG). The City Council concurred with staff’s recommendation to hire a traffic engineering consultant to evaluate the two locations to comply with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices requirement for an engineering study before installing a midblock pedestrian crossing. The traffic engineering firm Kittelson and Associates (KAI) was retained to study the proposed crossings; however, their work was delayed due to Cascade Natural Gas construction significantly disrupting traffic along 3rd Avenue until mid-February 2018, at which time accurate data could be collected.
KAI met with constituents, performed field observations, and collected vehicle and pedestrian data. KAI used methodology from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 562, “Improving Pedestrian Safety at Unsignlized Crossings,” to develop findings and recommendations for crossing treatments.
KAI’s findings for the 3rd Avenue location do not support installing a midblock crossing due to insufficient pedestrian crossing volume. KAI recommends monitoring the location and considering installing a midblock crossing if pedestrian crossing volumes increase to a consistent 20 or more crossings in any one hour each day. KAI does recommend making the following upgrades at the 3rd Avenue/Hudson Street intersection to improve pedestrian safety:
· Modify eastbound approach to provide a dedicated left-turn lane and sha...
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